Redress
by leuska
Summary: (A companion piece to Enjoy the Silence. Will probably make more sense if you are familiar with it. Happens somewhere around chapter 25.) "Lifting the phone closer to her face, she squints to read the accompanying message, saying: Someone was a little sad after her shots this morning, but nothing a little shopping can't fix."


_A companion piece to my multichapter Enjoy the Silence. Will probably make more sense if you are familiar with it. Happens somewhere around chapter 25. A huge thanks to_ _ **l03l**_ _for the beta._

 _For **Trinity Everett** , who reblogged a wonderful Tumblr post found at the end of this post._

* * *

 **Redress**

Her phone pings with an incoming message just as she is about to fix herself a second cup of coffee that morning.

She puts the empty cup back on the table with a sigh and picks up the device instead, her face immediately stretching into a grin that she tries – and fails – to subdue upon seeing the picture message.

Buttercup is staring back at her from the picture, wearing an utmost pitiful, miserable look on her big face.

The dog's body is already strapped in the car harness, which means they are already leaving the V-E-T, as Castle liked to spell out protectively anytime he ASLed her about Buttercup's nearing appointment.

It made Beckett roll her eyes. It made her heart swell a little too, both his goofiness as well as the honest care he has for their dog gripping her insides. Not that she would ever tell him.

Sweet, caring man. Urgh.

Lifting the phone closer to her face, she squints to read the accompanying message.

 _Someone was a little sad after her shots this morning, but nothing a little shopping can't fix._

Her phone pings with another incoming message, a couple of photos rapidly loading onto her screen, and this time, Kate can't help but let out a bark of laughter that has a couple of heads turn her way.

Espo and Ryan peak up too, from behind the phone and bank records they are currently sifting through, their eyes narrowing suspiciously. So she spins on her chair, turns her back to them.

Way too nosy, the two of them, even for detectives. And she wants to enjoy this in peace.

The first picture has her heart melting again and damn, what's wrong with her? Since when is she such a softie?

But their dog is staring back at her, their lovely, formerly abused animal who could have hated the world with all its cruel humans, but chose to be such a loving and giving creature instead, and that gets to her.

Over time, Buttercup's happiness has become of vital importance not only to Castle, but to Beckett as well. So what if seeing Buttercup happy in the photo as she sifts through the racks of toys in the pet store after getting her shots makes her grin like a fool, her heart swell? Her gentle ginger beast deserves it – she deserves all the love she can get.

And she – in turn – loves her fiancé for being so considerate, so sweet to the helpless creature. Oh hell, who is she kidding, she loves Castle, period.

Her eyes roaming the picture, Beckett briefly wonders what Buttercup will pick for herself (although she has a feeling it will be a ball of some sort, the dog loves chasing them) before she skips to the next picture and wow, okay, this gets to her in ways she didn't even know were possible.

Beckett's hand falls to her chest, her fingers absentmindedly stroking over the nearly invisible scar there, right over her heart.

The change is just…phenomenal. And yes, she knows those were only simple vet shots, but still. Her baby was feeling down, and the man she so desperately loves went out of his way to make her happy again. And that means something. It means everything.

Both of them, human and animal, could have turned their back on the world and humanity after everything they've been through. Yet instead, they chose life. They chose love and chose compassion and Kate doesn't know many people who would be capable of moving on in such a fashion.

And alright, geez, she _is_ being rather overly sentimental and dramatic about this, but hell if it doesn't get to her, her chest trembling with emotion.

Beckett secretly runs a finger under her eye, but thank God, there is no moisture. With her back hunched over her desk, she carefully lifts her eyes to scan the room, but everybody is back to business, the bullpen buzzing with the late morning rush.

Her eyes once again caress the impossibly hyper, happy (smiling!) dog staring back from the picture at her before she finally types a simple answer. Better not give too much away.

 _What did she pick?_

It's only a couple of seconds before Castle's answer pings back.

 _A squeaky yellow banana on a rope. We're just heading to the dog park._

That makes her smile.

 _I'm sure she picked it out only so she can play tug-of-war with me again. I am so gonna lose. Again._

She chuckles gently, briefly wishes she could be there with them.

 _Wanna join us for lunch? I'm_ _buying._

For the briefest of seconds, Beckett hesitates. Because that sounds really tempting, even as her eyes fall upon the murder board, still so sparse with details about their latest victim. She sighs in disappointment, wonders how to gently let him down, what to write in her reply. He doesn't write anything further, is obviously waiting on her reply, but in the end, she knows what she has to do. They are in the middle of an investigation and she really just can't-

Her phone pings with another message.

 _Hey, look. We could meet you there, wait for you with a delicious cheese sandwich from Marco's and a Starbucks ready for you? You'd be gone only half an hour, an hour tops._

A long moment goes by and damn, is she really considering this?

Another message.

 _Whatcha say, Kate? Wanna play hooky_ _with us?_

She spins around towards her boys to ask how far they've come in their examination of their victim's phone and bank records, and jumps in her chair when she finds them already at her desk, waiting on her.

"Still nothing," Espo says, unperturbed by her jumpy reaction.

"Yeah. Could take hours," Ryan fills in, joining his partner. "Besides, we're still waiting on Perlmutter to finish the autopsy and establish TOD so we can narrow down our time frame."

"So we're good here," Espo shrugs.

Okay, now that is suspicious. How in the world would they even know–

"Yeah. So in case you have some errands to run, or, you know, want to grab lunch, we're cool to stay behind and cover for ya," Ryan quips, and it suddenly dawns on her, her eyes going huge.

Espo smacks the back of Ryan's head. "Dude, you were supposed to be subtle."

Narrowing her eyes at her boys, she asks in a stern voice. "Okay, what did Castle promise you two?"

Espo's shaking his head, but Ryan quickly crumbles under Beckett's relentless stare. "The Ferrari for the weekend."

She purses her lips and shakes her head at them, feigning disapproval and a tiny bit of disappointment that they would give in so easily to Castle, but even as she does, she has to bite the inside of her cheek so her amusement doesn't break through while she tries to look stern.

"And you say Perlmutter's report will take some time?" She checks again suspiciously.

"Absolutely, already called the man less than an hour ago to check," assures Esposito. "Along with these." He brings up the thick stack of papers in his hand. "We're stuck on the case anyway. So go. Enjoy your lunch, grab a couple of moments with writer-boy, and come back with fresh eyes."

Wow, he's laying it on thick. He really must be desperate for that Ferrari.

Still, the offer is too tempting to resist.

Biting her lip, she glances back at the phone, Buttercup's excited face still staring back at her from the screen. She shouldn't, she really shouldn't.

But the boys are right, it's not like she's neglecting her duties or compromising the investigation in any way.

It's just the way she's used to doing things, it's her principles that hold her back. Never let personal affairs get in the way until the job is done.

But there is currently no job here for her to do, and in the last couple of years, her priorities have been slowly changing. As they should, Beckett reminds herself, they definitely should if she ever plans to have a family with Rick one day.

Her job is important, yes, but it shouldn't dictate her life.

"Okay," she consents.

A slow hiss of ' _Yesssss_ ' comes from Espo, followed by a tiny fist pump. "Ferrari is ours, bro," he tells Ryan.

"Only for the weekend," Beckett reminds them cheekily, a finger cautiously raised, barking out a laugh upon seeing their faces fall, but she has no time to tease the boys any further.

She just granted herself a window of opportunity and she doesn't intend to waste it.

She grabs her coat, then gathers her phone and keys before she makes her way towards the elevators, one eye secretly wandering towards Gates's office, but it appears to be empty.

Oh right, 1PP meeting this afternoon.

She presses the elevator's call button and picks up her phone once again, grinning to herself as she types.

 _Wait for me, guys. Am on my way._

* * *

 _A/N: Original post that inspired this fic: Bunysliper's tumblr URL_ _(slash)post(slash)150332629103(slash)youreabitweird-this-is-so-pure-for-some_


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